reaching nerdvanaRating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Short Story


Kel is a nerd, and not ashamed of it. Even if his boyfriend Jimmy wants him to get out of the house more, Kel prefers to be at home watching movies or playing online. When Kel and Jimmy have a fight, everything goes wrong. But in the process, Kel meets Gunnar. Gunnar doesn’t want to be a rebound guy, though, and things don’t work out.

Kel buries his sadness in an online game, where he meets “Darius.” Over the course of weeks, he and Darius meet up all over the virtual world for hook ups and conversation. But when they try to meet in real life, it doesn’t go according to plan. Eventually, they get there and Darius’s true identity is a real shocker for Kel. But it’s exactly what he wants and needs.

This short story is a cute, quick read that appealed to my nerdy little heart. Kel has some confidence issues, and even though he knows he looks great, he’s let Jimmy get into his head about his personality. I liked watching Kel find his own strength as the story progressed, and I thought that his ups and downs read really naturally. He’s an endearing and engaging character and I enjoyed him.

Darius’s true identity wasn’t a surprise, but it was exactly how I wanted it to go. There’s a definite chemistry there, which I liked. But I did feel like things were a bit rushed, and I wish I got to see more interactions between them. I wanted more conversations to really be grounded in their budding relationship. I like that the author left it at an HFN, because anything more wouldn’t have been believable.

So it’s a nice little read. I could have used more development in the story, and would have liked to see more between the MCs, but on the whole, it was a nicely done short with lovable nerd heroes.

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